For me, teaching is all about discovery.

My aim is for each student to discover what excites and engages them at the piano. In my studio, students give prize-winning performances of Chopin, Debussy, and Beethoven, and they also perform the music of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Frederic Rzewski, Florence Price, and Tan Dun. Students turn their goals into reality by learning effective practice techniques for them, which might mean having white noise playing in the background or making a map of the form of their piece. The links between physical gestures and musicality are a part of every student’s training, from conducting and dancing to Dalcroze eurhythmics and yoga. I train students how to calm their mind for peak performance, including breathing exercises and mindfulness-based stress management practices.

Recent student projects include performances and research posters on music written by women, performances of electroacoustic music, and a multimedia presentation about climate science including performances of music about the natural world by Tristan Murail, François Couperin, and Amy Beach.

I’ve taught masterclasses in 20 states and 7 countries, and everywhere I go I am fascinated by how people learn. Whether teaching undergraduate or doctoral level pianists, whether coaching a Mozart piano quartet or an open-form piece by Christian Wolff, my goal is to teach students to be their own artist. Studio successes include competition prizes in the Charleston International Piano Competition, St. Cloud Symphony Concerto Competition, and Città di Barletta International Young Musicians Competition (Italy).  Under my mentorship, students have also published their own compositions, and have gone on to success as music educators, arts administrators, and music therapists. Studio alumni continue to be active as performers of classical, alternative, and electronic music.

Dr. Wettstein has premiered over 400 works, including music by Ferneyhough, Ung, and Libby Larsen.

She holds degrees from the University of California San Diego, the New England Conservatory, and the University of Kansas. Her teachers include Aleck Karis, Stephen Drury, Sequeira Costa, Richard Angeletti, and Claude Frank.